INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY

NEWSLETTER – AUTUMN 2011

2011 has been a highly eventful year so far in the life of IIPSGP. Based as we are now in the

Castle of the Muses, in Argyll, Scotland, there have been various visitors coming to enjoy the

amazing scenery, and the ambience of the loch here, as well as to spend time researching in our

huge reference library, or to take part in the various lectures and courses that have been ongoing

this year. From January through to July we ran a lecture series entitled TRANSPERSONAL

HISTORY in which we explored the ramifications of the proposal for a new genre of historiography,

namely transpersonal history. Various students attended each session, some from the locality and

some from much further afield including overseas. The entire series was recorded and will soon be

available for purchase via audio CD’s. In July we ended with a symposium on the application of

transpersonal history to conflict resolution and peacemaking in specific conflicts around the world,

including Afghanistan etc.

Among the visitors we have received at the castle this year so far have been staff from the UN

School in New York city, Afghan students from London working in the field of media technology

and peacemaking, a Bosnian refugee from Sarajevo now living in the USA (now USA IIPSGP

Coordinator), an American from Massachusetts, an Iranian teacher from Shiraz, an Indian

newspaper editor and philosopher from Rajasthan, a visitor from Lithuania, visitors from Sussex

including 6th form students interested in the potential of drama to peace making, colleagues from

elsewhere in Scotland, including Edinburgh, Kirckaldy, Glasgow and Whithorn, and so on. The

visitors’ book of the Castle is becoming rather full in its pages, with some visitors staying just

overnight and some for several weeks. The protocols remains the same and serious students of

spirituality and peace are always welcome to come and lodge here on very reasonable terms,

provided they enter the spirit of the Castle and do a little voluntary work towards the smooth

running of things every day. The Global Green University remains active and we have had several

students visiting with a view to pursuing higher research degrees under our auspices.

There have been many memorable discussions and mini-seminars taking place, and quite a few of

these were filmed or recorded by Nichol Hague, who also moved up from Sussex in March to help

IIPSGP as head of the Media Department. She has been responsible not only for all the filming of

events in the Castle, but also for setting up our excellent YOUTUBE channel where most of these

events are now available on line and can be watched by anyone with access to the internet. Nicola

has also been finishing off her documentary film on Druidry, and during the course of the year so

far has interviewed and filmed Thomas speaking on this subject on several occasions. The You

Tube channel to use is: “IIPSGP1”

Sophia Craig-Daffern, Thomas’s daughter, also came up to Scotland this year fro a 4 week visit,

with several new friends met during her Summer job as a teacher at Condover hall, and Sophia

stayed on to take part in the Mystery Drama performed for the Equinox on September 21 in the

Great Hall at the Castle. There is an upper minstrel gallery which makes an ideal stage and the

play, which was written and performed by Thomas and Sophia jointly, is now available on the

IIPSGP YouTube channel. We also ran an occasional Midnight Magic Club in the Summer. Ruth

Kempe, our International Secretary, is running Just Three Drops in Llanfair Caereinion, a café

themed on Taliesin’s experience with the liquor of clairvoyance in the Druid traditions of Britain.

Beyond the castle walls, Thomas has been busy teaching and lecturing further afield. In April he

was invited to Israel and gave a key note speech to a conference in Ramat Gan about the spiritual

significance of 2012, based on the Periodic Table of the World’s Religious and Philosophical

Traditions, as well as running a workshop on the same theme. This led to may fascinating new

encounters with earnest students and spiritual seekers from all over the world, a memorable trip

around the sacred sites of Jerusalem, and the determination that the tine has indeed come to

reopen the Golden Gate (Gate of Mercy) which has been sealed since 1516, in the Eastern wall of

the old city of Jerusalem. By tradition this gate will only be opened at the Last Judgment, and it’s

opening will lead to the ushering in of a time of peace and plenty on the planet. Whilst in Israel,

Thomas also conducted some lengthy interviews with leading thinkers about peace and

metaphysics. September 23 also saw Mahmud Abbas appealing to the UN General Council and

Security Council to admit Palestine to full membership status in the UN – an ongoing issue.

May saw a visit to Jaipur in Rajasthan India where Thomas was presented with the International

Anuvrat Award for Nonviolence by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan on behalf of an educational

committee organised through the Anuvrat Jain movement. The award was given to Thomas for

many years of unstinting labour in the fields of education for peace, and was a most moving

ceremony that was widely reported in the Indian, if not the British press. August saw Thomas

visiting Slovenia on a quiet retreat to write some more of the major philosophical work he has been

writing now for several years, as well as visiting Italy, Austria and Germany, ending in Halle, where

he visited many of the wonderful sites of this superb city in Saxony Anhalt, including the cathedral,

which houses Martin Luther’s death mask, and the world famous Museum for Prehistory, which

houses the famous Nebra Disco, which is the earliest star map in existence, dating from about

2800 BC, and which shows the sun, moon and Pleiades. In Italy, Thomas visited Castle Duino

where Rilke was a guest and was inspired to write the Duino elegies by its amazing beauty and

tranquility. In many ways, The Castle of the Muses is a sort of northern equivalent to Castle Duino,

which also houses the College of the Adriatic nearby, a world famous private school for tomorrow’s

generation of global thinkers and leaders, sister institution to the College of the Atlantic in South

Wales. 2011 also saw Mary Napper retire after 10 years of service – thank you Mary ! Your

contribution to the life and work of IIPSGP at a critical time in its history, from 2001 to 2011 has

been seminal and deeply appreciated, hosting seminars at your museum etc. Bless you !

In September Thomas was invited to give a talk to the Theosophical Society headquarters in

Scotland, in Edinburgh, and choose to speak on the theme of Transpersonal History and

Theosophical History, an event which was recoded and filmed by Sophia, and is now also on

YouTube. Also in August Thomas led a small pilgrimage to Iona with Nicola Hague and Janette

Parker, who had come from Wales for the occasion and our visit coincided with the annual retreat

for Friends of the Iona Community. Immediately afterwards, serious rioting broke out in English

cities and IIPSGP decided to issue a call for a National Task Force on Nonviolence (see below).

Throughout the year various Druid ceremonies have accompanied the major festivals and

Midsummer June 21st) saw a group of fellow Druids and mystics gathering for an all night vigil

before seeing up the sun over Loch Goil from the Druid rock on the Castle beach. Spring Equinox

and Autumn equinox also saw moving rituals with friends and colleagues visiting. A new series of

talks on Druidry is to be given by Thomas in the Autumn term at Arrochar starting on October 13

(see below). Thomas has also now completed the Mt Haemus lecture on Druidry and

Transpersonal History which will be given in Salisbury in April 2012. Thomas has also been

recording a transpersonal historical commentary on the Koran, the New Testament and the Torah.

Other international events of concern taking place this year have included the civil war in Libya

(which IIPSGP offered to help mediate and urged to European Union Foreign Minister, Baroness

Ashton to make a formal mediation offer), and the Egyptian conflicts that led to the removal of

President Mubarak from office (during which events were kept in touch with the situation inside

Egypt by an academic colleague of international politics who will hopefully be visiting the Castle of

the Muses later in 2011). IIPSGP has continued to urge the European Union to establish an official

European Union Mediation Service and has published a book with this proposal at its core. IIPSGP

is also developing the work of two new projects, very different in scope, the first is the Centre for

Peace Policy Research, which is involved in hosting the Poseidon Seminar in later October 2011

(see below) and which is the first such academic centre anywhere in the world. The second project

is the Centre for the Study of Divine Intelligence, which is intending to work on the cusp between

the split between scientific and spiritual or religious approaches to reality – internal intellectual

peacemaking, so to speak, and is holding its launch meeting in November 2011.

In conclusion then, 2011 to date has been a memorable year with many fascinating visitors and

educational events taking place, not only at the Castle of the Muses, but also further afield

throughout the internal work of IIPSGP in general. In the Autumn term we are hoping to welcome

further students visiting from overseas, including Egypt, Macedonia and Slovenia including

elsewhere. If anyone wishes to come on study retreat to the Castle, or to attend any of the

educational events listed below, please simply email for the booking form to

iipsgp@educationaid.net or telephone 01301 703053. The IIPSGP ADULT EDUCATION &

SPIRITUALITY PROGRAMME OF EVENTS for AUTUMN 2011 follows. (TCD – 9/2011)

BRITISH PEACE MUSEUM OPEN DAY AND GUIDED TOUR

1 October (Saturday) 2011

At 2-4 pm there will be a guided tour of the British Peace Museum, now based at the Castle of the Muses, Carrick Castle, Loch Goil, PA24 8AG, Argyll, Scotland.

WHAT IS THE BRITISH PEACE MUSEUM ?

The Castle is now the base for the British Peace Museum, a small private museum dedicated to the quest for peace and understanding in the world. Each of the 9 large rooms of the Castle is devoted to a particular Muse, and contains books, artefacts, paintings and sacred objects associated with the traditional archetypal energy of that particular Muse. This particular motif also featured in an exhibition organised at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery in 2003, on the Art of War and the Arts of Peace, to mark the 400th anniversary of the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. The Castle is intended as a permanent Museon / Museum dedicated to the quest for peace in the world, yet a peace based on mutual victory, understanding, enlightenment and beauty, not a peace based on humiliation and defeat of the “other”.

Is such a peace possible in our time, or in any time ? Are human beings capable of altruism rather than selfishness, mudita (generosity in Sanskrit, “joy in the joy of others”) rather than jealous ? Compassion and love rather than hatred, true courage rather than fear ?

The British Peace Museum documents and exhibit aspects of this heroic quest over the millennia. We are also able and willing to house appropriate memorabilia from the peace movements of Britain seeking to be displayed in an educational setting.

The Museum hosts educational events and is open to visits by individuals, families and small groups, by prior arrangement. Admission is by donation.

Leading the tour will be Dr Thomas Clough Daffern a philosopher and educator with a PhD in Transpersonal History from the University of London, who has taught at the Universities of London and Oxford, and served as head of religious education in several leading secondary schools through the UK. He is Global Coordinator of Philosophers and Historians for Peace, and Director of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy, now based at the Castle of the Muses. He has published widely in the field of peace studies and comparative philosophy and spirituality, as well as poetry and autobiographical studies, and is the author of more than 30 books on all aspects of philosophy, spirituality, history and the creative arts. He has also recorded numerous interviews with leading thinkers and is Chair of several key peace committees worldwide, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East. The Castle of the Muses is situated close toe the Trident nuclear submarine fleet at Faslane, and houses the Centre for Peace Policy Studies, a new international centre for research into envisioning a non-violent world, as well being home to the British Peace Museum.

To find the Castle take the road to Rest and be Thankful then go on down to Carrick Castle, alongside Loch Goil, Argyll, PA24 8AG. Jut go on 150 metres past the older building of Carrick Castle and you come to a right turn signed “Castle of the Muses” up a wooded drive. The Castle of the Muses nestles in the grove beneath the mountain, overlooking the loch side with stupendous views all around. Parking at the top of the drive. Public transport by bus is also available from Glasgow or Glasgow airport direct to Carrick Castle. Admission to the open day is by donation. Space available for overnight stays by special arrangement. Please telephone 01301 703053 to book, or email iipsgp@educationaid.net

2 OCTOBER (SUNDAY) - INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-VIOLENCE

GANDHI’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION – 1pm to 4pm

SCHOOL OF NON-VIOLENCE COMMEMORATIVE EVENTThe Castle of the Muses is now the base for the ongoing work of the School of Nonviolence, pioneered by its Director during the 1990’s, with meetings (in association with the Gandhi Foundation) in Kingsley Hall London and nationwide. The key questions before us are: how to envision a world without violence ? How to resolve conflicts of a complex political and religious nature without recourse to violence ? How to mediate and harmonise different world views and cultural traditions ? What is the essence of non-violence ? How can various peoples and nations solve their differences non-violently by finding out what they share in common rather than stressing their dissimilarities ?What are the spiritual roots of nonviolence ? These questions are the focus for the work of the School of Nonviolence The Castle of the Muses is a haven for the philosophy of creative non-violence in action. Is it time to move the work of the School of Nonviolence to new levels of operation and to network with other global initiatives in nonviolence, perhaps even to form a Global Task Force on Nonviolence ? The first step towards this is to form a national one.

WHAT IS THE NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON NON-VIOLENCE ?Arising out of the previous work of the School of Nonviolence, following the outbreak of serious rioting in England during August 2011, the Academic Director of the Castle of the Muses, Dr Thomas Clough Daffern, has called on political, religious, community and intellectual leaders throughout the UK to come together and form a new NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON NON-VIOLENCE. The detailed proposal has been put forward by Dr Thomas Clough Daffern, who has undertaken over 30 years of detailed research into these questions, in a 30 page document. The idea for a National Task Force on Nonviolence is to help rethink our priorities as a country. Dr Daffern has received various educational awards for educational work in peace and non-violence and has a PhD in the history of peace thinking from 1945-201 from the University of London. From 1993-1999 he lived in Peckham and taught mediation in local secondary schools and was the first UK educator to introduce secondary school peer mediation into Britain, having trained in California in 1992. He has been educational director of the School of Nonviolence since 1994, which was originally based in Kingsley Hall in East London, and is now based in a Castle in Scotland near the Faslane Nuclear base. The Task Force on Non-violence is a project of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy.

The founding document for the creation of a NATIONAL TASK FORCE ON NON-VIOLENCE is a 30 page document authored BY Dr T.C. Daffern, an electronic copy of which will be made available to all registered participants or press attending the INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-VIOLENCE event at the Castle of the Muses.

Since the day is also Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, there will also be interfaith prayers in the meditation room of the Castle during the event and a showing of the film “Gandhi in London” which records the time when Gandhi himself lived in London. Dr Daffern has worked closely with individuals who had been inspired by Gandhi’s work, and has spent many years thinking about how to adapt Gandhi’s teachings to the situation of modern British, European and Global Society. Prof Hans Kung has argued for years there will be no peace on earth without peace between the religions. Dr Daffern has taken this argument a little further and argues there will be no peace on earth without wisdom, hence the need for the global study of the structure and dynamics of wisdom, a project which the work of IIPSGP is dedicated to.

HOW TO REACH THE CASTLE OF THE MUSES ?

The Castle of the Muses, home to the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy (IIPSGP), is situated on Loch Goil. To find the Castle take the road to Rest and be Thankful then go on down to Carrick Castle, alongside Loch Goil, Argyll, PA24 8AG, Scotland. Jut go on 150 metres past the older building of Carrick Castle and you come to a right turn signed “Castle of the Muses” up a wooded drive. The Castle of the Muses nestles in the grove beneath the mountain, overlooking the loch side with stupendous views all around. Parking at the top of the drive. Public transport by bus is also available from Glasgow or Glasgow airport direct to Carrick Castle. Admission to the International Day of Nonviolence is by donation.

Space available for overnight stays by special arrangement. Please telephone 01301 703053 to book, or email iipsgp@educationaid.net

EXPLORATIONS IN PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY – A CELEBRATION OF THE CASTLE OF THE 9 MUSES

This series of talks and guided study tours of different sections of the large Library of the Castle of the 9 Muses, is a unique opportunity to come and learn more about the work of the Castle and what its various projects and associated networks are up to. Home of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy, the Order of Peace Poets, Bards and Druids, and the Global Green University, the Castle of the Muses is a unique new alternative education centre based in Argyll, Western Scotland. It has a very large research library covering all aspects of academic research and education, different sections of which will be introduced at the series of talks.

By tradition, the 9 Muses not only provided much of the entertainment in heaven (on Mount Olympus) but were also in charge of the serious work of healing, inspiration, the arts and divine-wisdom. In the Celtic Druid world the muses were known as the Awenae, bringers of Awen and inspiration. Inspired knowledge has always been the focus of advanced philosophical work and spiritual teachings, and the great poets, bards and musicians of the planet, in all religions and cultures, have often ascribed the inspirational focus of their own oeuvre to the divine. When Plato founded the first Academy in history, in a grove outside Athens, he dedicated its work to the 9 Muses and has a temple built for their worship, as a semi-symbolic way of saying that all true philosophical knowledge needs to be sourced in divine inspiration. So too, as the base for International Philosophers for peace, among many other networks and organisations, the academic director of the Castle of the Muses, Dr Thomas Clough Daffern we will be conducting on this course a whistle-stop tour through the various fields of knowledge, and examining the various ways in which peace and planetary well being can be, and are being, advanced by thinkers and concerned global citizens around the globe at this critical time in history. Scotland helped give birth to the 18 th century enlightenment – is it time for a new global enlightenment, synthesizing Eastern and Western approaches to the concept ? What role can the Castle of the Muses help play in this birthing process ?

SATURDAY OCTOBER 15 –CALLIOPE: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, LAW, HUMAN RIGHTS, PARTY POLITICS, ECONOMICS, and GOVERNMENTSATURDAY OCTOBER 22 – CLIO – EDUCATION, HISTORYSATURDAY OCTOBER 29 – THE POSEIDON SEMINAR - THE POSEIDON SEMINARS ARE AN ANNUAL IIPSGP EVENT ON BRITAIN’S NUCLEAR DETERRENT, AND THE GLOBAL PROSPECTS FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPONS-FREE WORLDSATURDAY NOVEMBER 5 – ERATO – PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, RELATIONSHIPS, LOVE, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12 – EUTERPE - FINE ART, AESTHETICS & BEAUTY, LANDSCAPING, GARDENING, ARCHITECTURE, FILM, PHOTOGRAPHY, ALL VISUAL REPRESENTATION, CRAFTSSATURDAY NOVEMBER 19– MELPOMENE - LAW, CONFLICT, WAR STUDIES, MILITARY RESEARCH, INTELLIGENCE, GENOCIDE, PEACE STUDIES, MEDIATION, ARBITRATIONSATURDAY NOVEMBER 26 – CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF DIVINE INTELLIGENCE LAUNCH MEETINGSATURDAY DECEMBER 3 – POLYHYMNIA – RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY SATURDAY DECEMBER 10 – TERPSICHORE - MUSIC, DANCE, THEATRE,SATURDAY DECEMBER 17 - THALIA - POETRY, LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS, PHILOLOGY, LIBRARY SCIENCE, THE BOOK, MANUSCRIPTS AND PALAEOGRAPHYSATURDAY DECEMBER 24–URANIA – NATURAL SCIENCES, GEOGRAPHY, MEDICINE, ECOLOGY

Dr. Daffern the course leader, is a philosopher and educator with a PhD in Transpersonal History from the University of London, has taught at the Universities of London and Oxford, and served as head of religious education in several leading secondary schools through the UK. He has served as Global Coordinator of Philosophers and Historians for Peace, and as Director of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy, now based at the Castle of the Muses, since 1991. He has published widely in this field and is the author of more than 30 books on all aspects of philosophy, spirituality, history and the creative arts. He has also recorded numerous interviews with leading thinkers and is Chair of several key peace committees worldwide, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East. The Castle of the Muses is situated close to the Trident nuclear submarine fleet at Faslane, and houses the Centre for Peace Policy Studies, a new international centre for research into envisioning a non-violent world. The talks

are taking place on Saturday afternoons from 3.00 – 5.30; tea and biscuits will be served. To find the Castle take the road to Rest and be Thankful then go on down to Carrick Castle, alongside Loch Goil, Argyll, PA24 8AG. Jut go on 150 metres past the older building of Carrick Castle and you come to a right turn signed “Castle of the Muses” up a wooded drive. The Castle of the Muses nestles in the grove beneath the mountain, overlooking the loch side with stupendous views all around. Parking at the top of the drive. Public transport by bus is also available from Glasgow or Glasgow airport direct to Carrick Castle. Admission to the course is by donation. Space available for overnight stays by special arrangement. Please telephone 01301 703053 to book, or email iipsgp@educationaid.net

EXPLORING DRUID STUDIES –

ADVENTURES IN DRUID HISTORY, SPIRITUALITY AND THEOLOGY

This series of talks by Dr Thomas Clough Daffern are meant as both an overall introduction to Druid studies on the part of beginners, and also as suitable for advanced level thinkers who have been exploring pagan and Druid philosophies for many years. Thomas has a PhD in Transpersonal History from the University of London, and has taught at the Universities of London and Oxford, as well as served as head of religious education in several leading secondary schools through the UK. He is the founder of the order of Peace Poets, Bards and Druids, a practicing poet and Druid himself, and serves as Peace officer to the Council of British Druid Orders. He is also 2011 Mt Haemus lecturer for the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (www.druidry.org) He is a widely published scholar of comparative religions, philosophy and peace studies, many of whose publications are available on www.lulu.com/iipsgp This unique series of talks will be both informative and entertaining and should provide much food for thought. The venue is in the excellent Three Villages Community Halls in Arrochar, where there are excellent transport links to the rest of Scotland, including a railway station (Arrochar and Tarbert) a few stops on from Glasgow. Attendance is by donation. The talks are taking place on Thursday evenings from 7-9pm. Accommodation nearby can also be provided for those coming long distance.

Thursday October 13 – WHAT IS DRUIDRY ? WHERE DID IT COME FROM AND WHERE IS IT GOING ? BRITAIN, SCOTLAND, IRELAND, WALES, EUROPE AND THE HISTORY OF THE DRUID TRADITION

Thursday October 20 – DRUIDS, THEOLOGY, POLITICS AND LAW: COSMIC LAW OR WRITTEN LAW ? WHO WERE THE DRUID DEITIES ?

Thursday October 27 – DRUIDS AND THE HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE SCIENCES – NEWTON’S MAGICAL APPLE

Thursday November 3 – DRUIDRY AS A PRIMAL PAGAN AND PREHISTORIC WISDOM TRADITION

Thursday November 10 – DRUIDRY AND CHRISTIANITY, KABBALAH, SUFISM, ZOROASTRIANISM AND OTHER REVEALED RELIGIONS

Thursday November 17 – DRUIDRY AND EASTERN RELIGIONS: BUDDHISM, JAINISM, HINDUISM AND TAOISM

Thursday November 24 – DRUIDRY AS AN ESOTERIC SPIRITUAL SYSTEM, AND IN RELATION TO OTHER ESOTERIC SYSTEMS SUCH AS FREEMASONRY, THEOSOPHY ETC.

Thursday December 1 – DRUIDRY AND PEACE TEACHINGS – NONVIOLENCE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION – BRITISH AND SCOTTISH HISTORY IN TIME OF WAR AND PEACE AND THE DRUID PERSPECTIVE ON THE SEARCH FOR PEACE

THE POSEIDON SEMINAR – SATURDAY OCTOBER 29, 2011

WHAT IS THE POSEIDON SEMINAR ?

The Trident is a symbol of Poseidon’s authority (known to the Roman’s as Neptune, and to the Celts as Mannan Mac Lir). The sea has since ancient times served to inspire and enthuse mankind. IIPSGP wishes to move the planetary conversation along so that nations no longer have to rely on threatening to blow each other out of existence as a sign of their own power and maturity ! How about sharing each other’s enlightenment instead ?

The Poseidon Seminars are to be an annual event around Samhain, where all those interested in debating and discussing the future of both Britain’s own nuclear deterrent, and the global prospects for a nuclear weapons-free world, can come together in serious intellectual discussion and debate. The huge costs of refitting Trident and the question of who will pay for it, and whether this money could be more usefully spent, are among the many topics to debate in earnest. We anticipate that these seminars will include MOD officials, political representatives, peace campaigners and diplomats. IIPSGP has already run over 30 meetings in the UK House of Lords which have from time to time also touched on these concerns. Now is the time however to have a serious debate which can encompass all opinions on the matter and see if any intelligent consensus can begin to emerge, ranging from the CND position of total nuclear disarmament, to the Conservative government’s policy of refitting out a whole new generation of nuclear submarines. To replace the aging Trident fleet. The purpose of the Poseidon Seminars is to hold a high level discussion on the pros and cons of each possible approach and see if real clarity and agreement can be reached.

The event is hosted by the Centre for Peace Policy Studies, a new think tank based now at the Castle of the Muses, which is the first research organisation in the world to focus on peace policy rather than military or strategic or intelligence policy. Whereas the global community currently devotes trillions of pounds annually to security, defence and intelligence spending, including policy development in all these fields, spending on peace policy is virtually non-existent. Not surprisingly therefore the global community is finding it hard to wean itself off its addiction to militarisation and violent solutions to complex political and religious differences. In a world where the simplicity of superpower confrontations, and polarised cold war politics, have been replaced by more sophisticated multicultural and multi-religious tensions and conflicts, what kind of peace policy might be useful or advantageous in relation to the future of nuclear weapons ? What kind of tools or “weapons” do we need to re-build peace and trust between nations and cultures and religions, in the contemporary world ? These are some of the questions we shall be asking.

The Convenor of the Seminar is Dr Thomas Clough Daffern a philosopher and educator with a PhD in Transpersonal History from the University of London, who has taught at the Universities of London and Oxford. He is Director of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy, now based at the Castle of the Muses. He has published widely in the field of peace studies and comparative philosophy. He is Chair of several key peace committees worldwide, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East. He is also Convenor of the Centre for Peace Policy Studies, a new international centre for research into envisioning a non-violent world, and Curator of the British Peace Museum also based at the Castle of the Muses.

WHERE IS THE POSEIDON SEMINAR BEING HELD ?

The Castle of the Muses, home to the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy (IIPSGP), is situated on Loch Goil, which is one of the deep sea lochs where the British Independent Nuclear deterrent, Trident submarines, are based and regularly practice. The submarines can be glimpsed in the Loch from time to time. Faslane main naval base is only a few minutes by water from the castle. To find the

Castle take the road to Rest and be Thankful then go on down to Carrick Castle, alongside Loch Goil, Argyll, PA24 8AG. Jut go on 150 metres past the older building of Carrick Castle and you come to a right turn signed “Castle of the Muses” up a wooded drive. The Castle of the Muses nestles in the grove beneath the mountain, overlooking the loch side with stupendous views all around. Parking at the top of the drive. Public transport by bus is also available from Glasgow or Glasgow airport direct to Carrick Castle. Admission to the open day is by donation. Space available for overnight stays by special arrangement. Please telephone 01301 703053 to book, or email iipsgp@educationaid.net

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26, 2011 – 1-5PM

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF DIVINE INTELLIGENCE

LAUNCH MEETING

The CSDI is a new venture in advancing dialogue, research and education on the cusp between scientific, spiritual and theological research. For many years the battle has raged between those who believe that reality can be explained solely by reference to empirically observable phenomena, which can be measured, analysed and understood using purely scientific and numerical methodologies, and those who feel that the evidence of nature, and its grandeur, design, complexity, magnificence and apparent purpose and order, point to some kind of super-arching or Divine Intelligence at work behind the scenes. The great religions of the planet have historically always opted for the latter side of this debate, with even Buddhism and Jainism, non theistic paths, believing in a higher intelligence which we humans can actualise or at least contact in some way, within ourselves, through reason, study, reflection, intuition and mystical experience.

Strictly scientific theorists who incline towards atheism however, argue that there is no evidence for any kind of supernatural intelligence at work within nature, that nature has arisen spontaneously through evolutionary processes and a posited “big bang” and that there simply is no “why” behind existence – merely a succession of random mutations and occurrences. Other scientists, like Einstein and Newton, Bacon and Kepler, although they believed that scientific method could indeed reveal much about the fabric of visible reality, believed there was another level of Being which needed divine revelation and supernatural vision to be able to be understood or approached.

IIPSGP wishes to move this debate to a higher level. As the recent documentary film Expelled reveals, some scientists are today being persecuted in some countries for refusing to believe in a strictly neo-Darwinian universe, and for arguing that the complexity of nature indicates some kind of intelligent design process at work. The Institute wants to move the debate on further and work with all those academics, intellectuals, scientists, philosophers and theorists who feel that there is truth in both sides, and to mediate the debate. Many contemporary intellectuals feel there is indeed something is not quite right with conventional materialist and non-spiritual explanations of the universe, ranging from problems with cosmology, to psychology, to sociology, global politics and historiography, and yet who are not content to merely adopt an “off-the-shelf” package of “religious” explanations to answer these puzzling and profound problems. Other thinkers do not wish to abandon the hard-won legacy of the enlightenment and instead want to reconcile science and spirituality, faith and reason, scientific and mystical methods of knowing. The nub of the question which we will be asking at CSDI is: If there is a Divine Intelligence at work evidenced behind the universe, what is it is like, how could we know, and what implications does this have for knowledge, society and action ?

CSDI wishes to remain true to the lineage of enlightenment and sceptical thought, yet to move scientific discourse into a new dimension, namely the study of the possibility of divine intelligence itself. In this it is aware that it will be pioneering almost a new discourse, a new academic field of study and a new orientation for modern scientific research. Among the fields that CSDI will be drawing on are: scientific and empirical experiments and theory, developments in physics, chemistry, biology and ecology; transpersonal psychology, noetic sciences, parapsychology, esoteric teachings, ufology and cosmosophy, channelling, meditation, prayer, the study of sacred texts, traditional and perennial philosophy, native wisdom in preserved pockets of indigenous peoples, occult and mystical traditions handed down partly orally across the centuries, advanced schools of theological thought within the great religious traditions of humanity.

Our purpose is to asses the findings of the fruits of the enlightenment project and the works of modern scientific thought over the past several centuries yet to reassess them in the light of the paradoxes of the limitations of modern knowledge, and to ask whether there are sufficient indications now to point towards some Divine Intelligence at work behind the nature, structure, origin and purpose of the universe, and humanity. If so, the purpose of CSDI is to work with leading edge thinkers across all academic and scientific and spiritual disciplines, in order to

1) formulate the questions that we need to ask about the possibility of Divine Intelligence

2) work on the kinds of knowledge resources that are available to set about answering such questions, once formulated

3) consider what light the various esoteric and mystical and religious teachings of mankind can shed on the limitations that modern science has now found to human knowledge

4) consider what branches of modern global philosophical inquiry can assist the work of encountering and acknowledging and working alongside divine Intelligence, and what implications this has for mankind’s present and future

5) examine the ways in which synchronicity, clairvoyance, telepathy, pre-cognition and retro-cognition out-of-body experiences, near death experiences and mystical states in general give access to aspects of Divine Intelligence (both from the historical record and from contemporary lived experiences)

6) consider ways in which modern scientific research has given rise to paradoxes and problems which appear not to be able to be solved from within the materialist paradigm of observable scientific knowledge itself, but which point possibly towards a higher order of reality that seems to give access to aspects of Divine Intelligence

7) examine ways in which modern psychological research, including transpersonal, analytical and mystical psychology point towards higher order realities that indicate a Divine Intelligence at work in the universe and over-shadowing the soul of humanity for the good

8) examine in detail both traditional religious teachings and new religious teachings for clues and ideas as to the nature of Divine Intelligence behind the knowable universe sand to engage in creative discourse with advanced thinkers and theologians representing these various teachings and traditions

CSDI is based in a castle in the highlands of Scotland, in Argyll, and will be holding an inaugural seminar in 2011, with an invited group of scholars coming together for this historic purpose. Scotland (and Ireland and Britain in general) have a long tradition of natural theology, and a scientific approach to religious matters, going back to John Scotus Erigena, Michael Scott, Ockham, Roger Bacon, Grosseteste, Duns Scotus, Sir Francis Bacon, David Hume, Adam Smith and the Common Sense School. This in turn stimulated Kantian thought and the whole modern school of Kantian and Hegelian philosophy arising from that impetus. It is time, we believe, to reassess this legacy and ask in all honesty and humility whether it is time to shake hands with the “invisible hand” and to ask what the consequences of this intellectual move might be. CSDI is a project of IIPSGP and is thus intended as an irenic contribution towards the philosophical reconciliation of the conflicting paradigms and warring ideologies that currently dismember mankind into so many warring tribes, nations and religions. It is an ecumenical and scientific project particularly aimed both at all those working in higher education and scientific research and members of the educated public who wish to engage in fundamental thinking about the nature and purpose of existence in a spirit of winder and intellectual honesty.

CSDI is working within a modified and expanded British Empirical school of philosophical thought as a whole, adopting an updated Baconian perspective. CSDI believes that it is time now, using the whole apparatus of modern scientific thought, to grapple with the fundamental nature of spiritual and religious matters which Sir Francis Bacon purposely left out of his Advancement of Learning for a later age. CSDI believes however that the tenor of the present age is such that serious discussion must now begin among global thinkers and empirical scientists to advance research into the nature of Divine Intelligence, in an ecumenical, interfaith and rational spirit, for the purposes of peace and global understanding. We wish to work alongside all those other scientists and scholars working on similar issues and to collaborate in a spirit of cooperate endeavour towards ultimate truth, that is the hallmark of all genuine scientific endeavour.

The launch meeting of the CSDI will be taking place at a symposium on SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26, 2011 – 1-5PM, to which various speakers and contributors are expected. Anyone with an interest in attending is welcome, but if you wish to speak, then please first send in an abstract of your own contribution. There is no charge to attend the event which will be by donation to the ongoing work of the CSDI.

HOW TO REACH THE CASTLE OF THE MUSES ?

The Castle of the Muses, home to the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy (IIPSGP), is situated on Loch Goil. To find the Castle take the road to Rest and be Thankful then go on down to Carrick Castle, alongside Loch Goil, Argyll, PA24 8AG, Scotland. Just go on 150 metres past the older building of Carrick Castle and you come to a right turn signed “Castle of the Muses” up a wooded drive. The Castle of the Muses nestles in the grove beneath the mountain, overlooking the loch side with stupendous views all around. Parking at the top of the drive. Public transport by bus is also available from Glasgow or Glasgow airport direct to Carrick Castle. Admission to the International Day of Nonviolence is by donation. Space available for overnight stays by special arrangement. Please telephone 01301 703053 to book, or email iipsgp@educationaid.net

For further information please contact: Dr Thomas C Daffern, Initiator, Centre for the Study of Divine Intelligence, Castle of the Muses, Carrick Castle, Loch Goil, Cairndow, Argyll and Bute, PA24 8AGScotland, Tel. 01301 703053, Email iipsgp@educationaid.net www.educationaid.net www.holisticchannel.org.uk

SUNDAY SERVICES IN THE CHAPEL AT THE CASTLE OF THE MUSES

Each Sunday, when in residence, the Director will lead a Sunday service of worship and prayer in the Chapel of the Castle of the 9 Muses. The Service will be Christian-Druid in theme and orientation, with additional teachings and prayers and insights also drawn from the entire range of the world’s spiritual traditions, including Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Sufism, theosophy, esotericism, universal philosophy, paganism, American Indian traditions, shamanism, new age, anthroposophy, Buddhism, Jainism, Yoga-Vedanta etc. The service will consist of a short silent meditation, prayers, readings and a brief talk, followed by a social exchange and networking over coffee and biscuits. All are welcome to attend these services, which take place every Sunday from 3 to 4.30 pm. In addition, the Director is available for private spiritual counselling sessions.

CUMULATIVE LIST OF EVENTS AND SPECIAL DAYS AT THE CASTLE OF THE MUSES, ARGYLL, AUTUMN TERM 2011

41 September 29 (Thursday) St Michael’s Day – Christian festival

42 September 29 (Thursday) Rosh Hashanah (1st day) (Jewish New Year. A two-day festival during which work is not permitted)

43 1 October (Saturday) – British Peace Museum Launch exhibition – Celebration of the Arts of Peace plus evening Eisteddfod

44 2 October (Sunday)- International Day of Non-Violence (Gandhi’s Birthday); School of Non-Violence commemorative event

45 8 October (Saturday) - Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement - the most solemn day of the Jewish year)

46 Oct 12 (Wednesday) – Full moon meditation at 7pm

47 Thursday October 13 – WHAT IS DRUIDRY ? WHERE DID IT COME FROM AND WHERE IS IT GOING ? BRITAIN, SCOTLAND, IRELAND, WALES, EUROPE AND THE HISTORY OF THE DRUID TRADITION; Friday October 14 – full facts; Dierk Grigoleit arrives on long retreat

48 15 October (Saturday) – SATURDAY OCTOBER 15 –CALLIOPE: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, LAW, HUMAN RIGHTS, PARTY POLITICS, ECONOMICS, and GOVERNMENT - including Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Ireland and Britain

(TRCIB)

49 Thursday October 20 – DRUIDS, THEOLOGY, POLITICS AND LAW: COSMIC LAW OR WRITTEN LAW ? WHO WERE THE DRUID DEITIES AND WHAT WAS THEIR THEOLOGY

50 OCTOBER 22 (SATURDAY) – EXPLORATIONS IN PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL CLIO – EDUCATION, HISTORY

51 24 October (Monday) United Nations Day – Peace Meditation at the Castle of the Muses (On 24 October 1945, the United Nations was formally established after a majority of its founding members ratified a treaty setting up the world body. http://www.un.org/events/unday/2008/background.shtml

52 October 26 (Wednesday) Diwali (this festival of lights, is the most popular of all the festivals from South Asia. It is an occasion for celebrations by Hindus as well as Jains and Sikhs).

53 October 26 (Wednesday) - Paryushana (The most important Jain festival, it consists of eight (Swetambara) or ten (Digambara) days of intensive fasting and repentance. A time of reflection.)

54 Thursday October 27 – DRUIDS AND THE HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE SCIENCES – NEWTON’S MAGICAL APPLE

55 29 October (Saturday) - 1-5.30pm - Poseidon seminar – discussion on the ethics, economics, politics and metaphysics of Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent, organised with Centre for Peace Policy Research)

56 31 October (Monday) – Samhain, Druid Festival of the Death of the old Year and the onset of Winter, and the Commemoration of the Spiritual Worlds – evening ceremony at Castle of the Muses

57 1 November (Tuesday) All Saints Day – Christian Festival for All Saints (also known as All Hallows' Day or Hallowmas) is when Anglicans and Roman Catholics honour all saints of the Christian church.

58 Thursday November 3 – DRUIDRY AS A PRIMAL PAGAN AND PREHISTORIC WISDOM TRADITION

59 NOVEMBER 5 (SATURDAY) – EXPLORATIONS IN PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY - ERATO – PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, RELATIONSHIPS, LOVE, SEXUALITY AND EROS

60 11 November (Friday) - Remembrance Day commemorating Armistice Day, 1918, ending World War One (in the West) – Peace Meditation in the Castle Of The Muses

61 November 10 (Thursday) – DRUIDRY AND CHRISTIANITY, KABBALAH, SUFISM, ZOROASTRIANISM AND OTHER REVEALED RELIGIONS – and full moon meditation at 7pm

62 NOVEMBER 12 (SATURDAY ) – EXPLORATIONS IN PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY - EUTERPE - FINE ART, AESTHETICS & BEAUTY, LANDSCAPING, GARDENING, ARCHITECTURE, FILM, PHOTOGRAPHY, ALL VISUAL REPRESENTATION, CRAFTS

63 13 November (Sunday) - Remembrance Sunday (Peace Meditation and prayers in the

Castle Of The Muses)

64 November 17 (Thursday) – DRUIDRY AND EASTERN RELIGIONS: BUDDHISM, JAINISM, HINDUISM AND TAOISM

65 NOVEMBER 19 (SATURDAY) – EXPLORATIONS IN PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY - MELPOMENE - LAW, CONFLICT, WAR STUDIES, MILITARY RESEARCH, INTELLIGENCE, GENOCIDE, PEACE STUDIES, MEDIATION

66 November 24 (Thursday) – DRUIDRY AS AN ESOTERIC SPIRITUAL SYSTEM, AND IN RELATION TO OTHER ESOTERIC SYSTEMS SUCH AS FREEMASONRY, THEOSOPHY ETC.

67 November 26 (Saturday) Al-Hijira (Islamic New Year. Marks the migration of the Prophet Mohammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina) – Sufi Prayers in the Castle of the Muses

68 November 26 (Saturday) 1 - 5.30pm – Centre for the Study of Divine Intelligence launch meeting

69 December 1 (Thursday) – DRUIDRY AND PEACE TEACHINGS – NONVIOLENCE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION – BRITISH AND SCOTTISH HISTORY IN TIME OF WAR AND PEACE AND THE DRUID PERSPECTIVE ON THE SEARCH FOR PEACE

69.

December 2 – Dr Lila Moore arrives for a retreat at the Castle of the Muses to December 4

70 DECEMBER 3 (SATURDAY) – EXPLORATIONS IN PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY - POLYHYMNIA – RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

71 December 8 (Thursday) - Bodhi Day - On Bodhi day many Buddhists celebrate Gautama's attainment of enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, India.

72 Dec 10 (Saturday) – EXPLORATIONS IN PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY - TERPSICHORE - MUSIC, DANCE, THEATRE, PALAEOGRAPHY Full moon mediation at 7pm

73 DECEMBER 17 (SATURDAY) - EXPLORATIONS IN PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY THALIA - POETRY, LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS, PHILOLOGY, LIBRARY SCIENCE, THE BOOK, MANUSCRIPTS AND

74 December 21 (Wednesday) – Midwinter Solstice Festival and Yule in Druid, Pagan, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Norse pagan calendars

75 SATURDAY DECEMBER 24– EXPLORATIONS IN PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY URANIA – NATURAL SCIENCES, GEOGRAPHY, MEDICINE, HEALING, ECOLOGY

76 December 25 (Sunday) – Christmas Day (Christian festival celebrating the Birth of baby Jesus, the incarnation of the Logos)

77 December 31st ( Saturday) – New Years Eve – Festival of Endings and New Beginnings

78 Friday 9 March 2012 7pm, 2012 Middle East Spirituality and Peace Festival, the Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EL, Edinburgh. Talk by Dr Thomas Clough Daffern on "Transpersonal History and the Future of Peace in the Middle east: towards a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East"

79 Mt Haemus Day, at the Medieval Hall in Salisbury on 29 September 2012 with Dr

Thomas Clough Daffern on Transpersonal History and Druidry

80 June 21 – Summer solstice day at the Castle of the Muse and special ceremonies around the world, including Stonehenge

81 Dec 21 – special ceremony to mark end of Mayan Calendar cycle and start of a new one, plus Golden Gate project, and special ceremony at Stonehenge to mark Winter solstice

82 2013 – 23rd World Congress of Philosophy in Athens – http://philosophein.web.auth.gr/

PUBLICATIONS (books, films and audio recordings) BY DR. THOMAS C. DAFFERN

DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY

www.educationaid.netMost of the publications below, which can be regarded as the current published oeuvre of IIPSGP, can be purchased on line with credit card payment, and then mailed to your chosen address, from the following website: www.lulu.com/iipsgp Alternatively, and for audio-visual publications, a cheque must be made payable to “IIPSGP” and sent to the Castle of the Muses, Carrick Castle, Loch Goil, Argyll, Scotland, PA24 8AG, with an additional £2.50 for post and packing per item, and the goods will be mailed to you directly. This method is especially recommended if you do not have the internet.

THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE WORLD’S RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS

By Dr. Thomas C. Daffern

A3 SIZE POSTER, LAMINATED

£15.00

The whole purpose of the Table is to provide a simple overview for anyone, ranging from individuals studying at home through to school, college and university students, academics, researchers, university departments of religion and philosophy, religious schools, seminaries, etc. as well as those at governmental level working in diplomacy and international relations, and NGOs such as international humanitarian relief agencies. The table is useful both for school teachers and able humanities and religious studies students, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students. A list of suggestions for how the Table can be used as a research and educational tool can be accessed in the book. This unique educational and scientific tool is the first time that anyone has devised a way of presenting and tabulating the inter-relations between the world’s numerous philosophical and religious systems in a way that can easily be approached by anyone and benefit derived at whatever level of intellectual development they are operating on. A copy of this poster should be displayed in every mosque, every Gurdwara, every temple, every religious studies classroom, every church and synagogue, every university religious studies and theology department worldwide. If this were the case, it is almost certain that the numerous wars of religions and ideology affecting the planet would virtually cease overnight ! Please help by

disseminating this poster in your own neighbouring faith centre or classroom.

PATHWAYS OF THE SPIRIT: ESOTERIC AND METAPHYSICAL ASPECTS OF WORLD RELIGIONS, USING THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE WORLD’S RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS AS A GUIDE By Dr. Thomas C. Daffern

Double CD Set of approximately 30 hours of recorded teachings (recorded at St Mary’s School, Calne, Wiltshire)

£150.00

A complete lecture series advancing understanding of different philosophical and spiritual traditions, enabling students to gain a broad, deep, knowledge of different spiritual paths. This will help in the making of informed life choices regarding spiritual journeys, and also with guiding others through the complexities of life. Focusing on the esoteric philosophical core teachings of each tradition, Dr. Daffern gradually aims to unveil a transpersonal common denominator underlying all the spiritual paths of humankind and to develop students’ understanding of the possibilities for the emergence of peace and interfaith harmony. Whatever spiritual path one is drawn to, or practices, the course is premised on the faith that it will bring great benefit to learn about others’ practices and beliefs as they will enrich and stimulate one’s own. This course uses the Periodic table of the World’s Religious and Philosophical Traditions as the guide to help navigate through the complexity of different belief systems. This course can also be used as the basis of an MPhil/PhD for the Global Green University.

TRANSPERSONAL HISTORY – TOWARDS A MAP OF A NEW COUNTRY – FOOTNOTES TO THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE WORLD’S RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONSBy Dr. Thomas C. DaffernDouble CD Set of approximately 100 hours of recorded teaching time£ 250 This course, which began at Chithurst Manor in West Sussex and then moved up to the Castle of the Muses in Argyll, Scotland, is the first comprehensive overview of transpersonal history as a new field of historical research. It shows how each existing genre of historical studies can be complemented and expanded by adding in the insights from transpersonal thought, Using the Period Table of the World’s religious and Philosophical Traditions as the key, it expands and explains each category of entries in the table in considerable depth and can be regarded as a follow on from Lyotard’s “Report on the Condition of Knowledge” in which he attempted an overview of all known knowledge in the context of the human condition, or as complementing the work of Ken Wilber in his numerous integral studies, in which he again attempts to map the sum totality of what is knowable by human beings. The specific purpose of the series of talks, which can be regarded as equivalent to an entire MA course in itself, is to advance peace and intercultural understanding however, a feature which is not prioritised per se in either Lyotard or Wilber’s work. The work also bases itself on Jung’s insights and depth psychology as well as the oeuvre of many of many other transpersonal and esoteric thinkers. Students wishing to undertake this study course as part of their training towards a PhD or MPhil under the auspices of the Global Green University, are required not only to complete the course, but also to write a dissertation on some innovative aspect of the work herein featured.

1 Introduction: Transpersonal history – defining a new discipline

2 Jung, Freud and the founding of the transpersonal approach in depth psychologyand psychohistory3 Jungians and the transpersonal: Hillman, Joseph Campbell and beyond4 Maslow, Assagioli, Groff, and transpersonal history5 Ken Wilber, Integral theory and transpersonal history6 Intellectual history and transpersonal history7 The periodic table of religions and philosophies and transpersonal history8 Genres of history – diplomatic, political, social, economic, gender, cultural,

materialist, and transpersonal history (expanded talks are given on each of these genres in relation to transpersonal history)

9 Psychohistories and transpersonal history: De Mause, Erikson etc10 Theosophy, Anthroposophy, esotericism and historiography and transpersonal

history11 History of religions and spirituality – Eliade, Smart etc. Sufism, Kabbalah,

Christianity, Buddhism, Druidry, Jainism, Hinduism, New Age, gnosis and transpersonal history

12 History of sciences and transpersonal history13 History of global philosophies and transpersonal history14 History of the Arts, inspiration and transpersonal history15 Peace history, conflict resolution, the Afghan War and transpersonal history – by way of a conclusion which is not the end…COMMENTARY ON THE QURAN IN THE LIGHT OF TRANSPERSONAL HISTORYBy Dr. Thomas C. DaffernDouble CD Set of approximately 100 hours of recorded teaching time£ 250 This chronological commentary on the Quran is designed either for beginners in comparative religion, or advanced students of comparative mysticism, as well as practising Muslims and all earnest seekers of spiritual wisdom and truth, from whatever faith background. It is also intended for practitioners of other religions outside Islam, such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and paganism etc. It is the first such commentary embarked on in modern times by a scholar of comparative spirituality, making use of the full apparatuses of advanced historical scholarship into the origins of Islam, giving the various theories on the history and purpose of Muhammad’s mission, which have been the subject of intense speculation for many centuries. The commentary is neither polemically pro Islam nor polemically anti Islam, but simply tries to give an objective and comprehensive explanation of the phenomena underlying the Surahs which comprise the Quranic text as we have it in today’s world, and also their spiritual, moral and indeed political significance. No religion has arguably been more misunderstood or misinterpreted than Islam in recent times, and this commentary is an urgent attempt to redress this problem, by making Islam comprehensible in the light of advanced scientific and psychological and historical research. To date the first 50 surahs in chronological order have been covered, with the rest to be covered before the end of 2012.

COLLECTED POEMS OF THOMAS CLOUGH DAFFERN 2008-2010 THE 4TH VOLUME OF THE COLLECTED POETIC WORKS OF THOMAS DAFFERN COVERS HIS OUTPUT BETWEEN 2008 AND 2010 AND INCLUDES POEMS WRITTEN IN GREECE, ISRAEL, PALESTINE, SLOVENIA, FRANCE, IRELAND, BRITAIN AND ELSEWHERE. Print: £15.00

Download: £5.50

THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS The Periodic Table of the World Religious and Philosophical Traditions is a new attempt to codify, categorise and present the entire gamut of human spiritual, intellectual and scientific searchings over the history of our species. Taking the idea of Mendeleyev, to group all the atomic elements in systematic order, the Table does the same with the universe of religious and philosophical teachings. It lists all known spiritual and scientific systems of thought, knowledge and belief according to one of 168 separate entries. The Table is intended for use in schools, colleges, Universities, seminaries, Mosques, Synagogues, Gurdwaras, temples, libraries and wherever people are interested in comparing and analysing the different belief systems of the planet. The purpose behind publishing this accompanying book to the Table itself, is to explain the motivations, history and reasons for its creation, as well as to give scientific explanations for the protocols and procedures that were adopted in devising the Table. Print: £18.15

Download: £6.14

MUSINGS VOLUME 4: AN AUTOBIOSOPHY OF HALF OF LIFE DEDICATED TO POETRY, PHILOSOPHY, EDUCATION, PEACE AND SPIRIT This is the 4th volume of autobiographical reflections on a life lived for the advancement of peace through philosophical discourse, as well as through poetic and visionary spiritual work for interfaith harmony. This volume covers the momentous events leading up the start of third millennium and gives a critical perspective on world events through the eyes of a transpersonal thinker and historian. Print: £19.97

Download: £9.49

MUSINGS VOLUME 5: 2000-2008 This is the 5th volume of autobiographical reflections on a life lived for the advancement of peace through philosophical discourse, as well as through poetic and visionary spiritual work for interfaith harmony. This volume covers the momentous events of the start of third millennium and gives a critical perspective on world events through the eyes of a transpersonal thinker and historian. Print: £22.60

Download: £9.99

RELIGION AND LITERATURE: CONTRIBUTIONS TO A DIALOGUE This essay considers the complex ways in which religion and literature overlap. It is written by someone deeply involved in the practice of literature, as a poet of many years, as well as a teacher and academic specialist in the history and philosophy of religions, especially in relation to peace and conflict. This succinct essay is the fruit of some 30 years of deep reflection and thought on a subject of profound importance to the direction humanity chooses to guide our lives today and in the future. Many of the great religions of mankind are based on texts - how are we understand their relative merits and significance ? What criteria can we use ? Ethical or Aesthetic ? Religions also use analogy and metaphor to express their versions of truth, as does poetry and literature - but do religion and literature share a common understanding of truth, or differ in their expectations ? Print: £7.88

Download: £4.81

DRUID OBSERVATIONS ON A CYCLE OF POEMS 2004 - 2006 This study is a detailed commentary on a sequence of poems, written in Wales, Europe and Asia from 2004-2006. Many of the poems were of a Druidic nature and draw on the universal imagery of the wisdom traditions of the Celtic imagination. A philosopher, historian and expert in world religions and theologies, the poet is able to relate the complex imagery of his poems to the universal language of soul which infuses the world's living spiritual traditions, whatever outer names they bear. The poems have an irenic purpose and drive behind their haunting imagery - to transform a world based on fear, violence and conflict, to one of love, beauty and transcendental wisdom, through the magical incantations of the Word. Print: £11.88

Download: £6.06

CLIO ENCOUNTERS THANATOS: ON THE HISTORY OF RESEARCH INTO PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION IN HUMAN BEHAVIOUR, WAR PSYCHOLOGY AND CONFLICT RESEARCH 1945-2001 This study is an attempt at an intellectual history of research into the most difficult and dark places of the human psyche, exploring how people can become mass killers, capable of acts of genocide, or torture. It surveys work in the various schools of psychology and psychoanalysis which have tried to make sense of the pathological dimensions of human nature, and gives a succinct account of the ideas and works of some of the leading theorists of the nature of the human psyche of the 20th century, including Lifton, Freud, Klein, Horney, De Mause, Isaacs, Frankl, Reich, Miller, Arendt, Thompson, Kristeva, Lacan, Keppe, Bion, Bowlby, Erikson, Loye. The work's aim is not to choose which theory is the most useful or helpful, but rather to give an overall summary of each attempt to make sense of human nature, and to do so from a position of epistemological and transpersonal neutrality. Print: £15.97

Download: £6.06

TRANSPERSONAL HISTORY AND PEACE HISTORIOGRAPHY – EXPLORING THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF THE FIELD This book is an initial attempt at an outline of the ways that transpersonal peace history can hopefully cross-fertilise with other fields of historical research and academic thought. Transpersonal history could be defined as the scientific and holistic study of the total contents of the set of all historical events, perceived and unperceived, which have ever occurred in the past history of humanity, including those subtle phenomena which are usually ignored in the historical record, including feelings, emotions, thoughts, motivations, ideas, insights, illuminations, enlightenments, spiritual breakthroughs, feelings of well being, feelings of love, altruism, peak experiences, parapsychological experiences, synchronicities, so called miraculous phenomena, healings, near death experiences, dreams, memories, feelings of happiness and wholeness and inner peace etc. Print: £15.00

Download: £6.06

THE MUSES LOVE JOURNAL - ISSUE EIGHT The Muses Love Journal celebrates the work of all visionary thinkers, activists, psychologists, educators, theorists and philosophers who stress the role of the positive aspects of human nature in life, and who believe in the power of the transpersonal dimensions of human nature, to bear witness to the power of peace, sometimes even in the face of huge odds. Since its launch in 1993, the world has witnessed many

changes, positive and negative, and still, it remains the only academic journal in the world that consciously reinvokes the Muses, Guardians of the original academic craft, and which celebrates and affirms and researches and explores the powers of love, in all their complexity, as the only force which can bring peace and justice on earth, in our lifetimes. Its 8th issue carries news and information and research concerning all aspects of positive news, and was published in 2006. Print: £13.24

Download: £6.06

HOLISTIC PEACE AND THE CREATIVE FORCE OF LOVE IN THE WORK OF MEDIAEVAL ANDALUSIAN SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS This work can be considered a pioneering essay by the author in the field of transpersonal history. The attempt was made to compare and contrast three deep esoteric systems, Kabbalah, Sufism, and Christian mysticism in the tradition of Ramon Lull, and to examine something of their historical origins in the context of the Andalusian miracle of the convivencia of cultures which took place in Mediaeval Spain. This was the crucial place where the Mediaeval University was born (through Abelard, who got his Aristotle from Spain); this was where Adelard of Bath had been to learn advanced Arabic mathematic techniques. In a sense, the whole of the modern world is a child of Andalusia… Print: £10.64

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THE MUSES LOVE JOURNAL This 9th issue of the Muses Love Journal carries a wealth of information on all aspect of contemporary global intellectual affairs, and the search for peace. Dedicated to the Nine Muses, and structured into 9 Sections, each named after one of the classical Muses. It celebrates and affirms the power of human creativity, in all its diverse fields of expression, to gradually tackle and solve the mass of problems affecting the globe. A renaissance project, the Muses Love Journal is also the only academic journal in the world dedicated to exploring the nature of love in all its aspects (philia, agape, eros) and seeks to provide inspiration and guidance for its readers on how to manifest their own most creative and positive possible realities. Print: £14.60

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TOWARDS A HISTORY OF THE INTERRELATIONS OF MARXISM AND ESOTERICISM The book takes a detailed look at the rise of freemasonry in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and examines the strange ambivalence of Marx and Engels' attitude to freemasonry and related secret societies such as the carbonari. The work argues that the secret organisation of communist cells in fact owed a great deal to the earlier conspiratorial milieu of freemasonry and also finds considerable overlaps in their ideological orientations. The work attempts to chart a course which is neither anti-masonry nor pro-masonry, nor anti-Marxism nor pro-Marxism, and instead it is an early essay in transpersonal history, which seeks to uncover the deeper patterns behind history from both a spiritual and scientific perspective alike. The author is Director of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy. Print: £11.99

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THE HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL IDEAS AND INSTITUTIONS AND THE SEARCH

FOR PEACE 1945-2001 This crucial work documents the history of the peace education community in its attempts to generate the institutions of learning which can advance scholarship and understanding for peace, in a world riven with violence and terror. Mainly narrating developments from 1945-2001, the appendices give a glimpse of early decades of peace education work, dating back to the 1820's, with the founding of the University of London, where much of the work was first researched. Print: £15.77

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TOWARDS A EUROPEAN UNION MEDIATION SERVICE This book advocates a lasting solution to the ongoing problems of conflict on the borders of the European Union, and proposes that Europe establish a formal mediation service within its existing diplomatic structures, available in times of emergency, in all conflicts, great and small, that affect the lives of the citizens of the European continent as a whole, and not just members of the existing European Union. Similarly, the EUMS would be available as a neutral service to assist neighbouring non-European countries to resolve their disputes amicably and non-violently. The European Union can afford to create this service. The European Union cannot afford not to create it. This could be part of the peace dividend that we have all been waiting for ever since the ending of the cold war in 1990, and which the citizens of Europe have hitherto been tragically denied, especially in the Balkans. Print: £9.99

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Towards a Transpersonal History of the Search for Peace 1945-2001 This thesis contributes to the intellectual history of the period from 1945-2001 in the specific regard of the search for peace, among selected groups of intellectuals, academics and thinkers, during the cold war epoch. It concerns itself both with the quest for peace in relation to that complex, global, bipolar conflict, and also more generally. It examines this search in 4 specific fields of knowledge, namely historiography, philosophy, religious studies and theology, and psychology. The thesis also highlights a methodological lacuna that emerged during the course of the research. It was felt that a new meta-historical discipline, transpersonal history, might assist the work of trying to make sense of our epoch and, particularly, provide a useful historical special sub-discipline, which might hopefully help shed light on the causes of religious and inter-cultural conflicts, and their possible resolutions, in the post 9/11 world. Print: £22.09

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TOWARDS A TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR THE MIDDLE EAST Towards a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East has two main purposes, firstly to explain the background behind the launching of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East in 2008, and secondly to give something of the theoretical framework in which this project is being based. Unusual among peace institutes worldwide, the work of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy is dedicated not to the political or military or even economic aspects of peace building, although all such are important – but rather to the causal and metaphysical level of peace building – the building of peace in the collective imagination, the collective will and the collective intelligence of mankind’s warring tribes, nations and religions. It is concerned with the psychological healing and

philosophical reconstruction of mankind’s inner life, alongside the outermost socio-economic factors. Print: £13.16

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COLLECTED POEMS VOLUME 3 This is the third volume of Thomas Daffern's Collected poems and covers writings from 2005 to 2008 written in diverse places worldwide. Print: £17.09

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SOPHIAPHOBIA The author is proposing a revolutionary argument - that there might be some force or psycho-social blockage obstructing our evolution as so called Homo Sapiens, which gets in the way of our achieving our highest wisdom. Calling this force Sophiaphobia, the fear of wisdom, which is the opposite of Philosophy, the author examines what it is and where it comes from, speculating that it is operative in many levels and walks of society, not least inside the very institutions which are supposed to be promoting our education and intellectual welfare. The author also explores two related problems associated with Sophiaphobia, namely the questions of Recognition and of Philiaphobia, the fear of loving. This book should be required reading for all undergraduate and postgraduate University students and teachers, and for anyone interested in the intellectual and spiritual future of mankind. Print: £14.06

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ENLIGHTENMENTS This book is the first yet published to examine in detail the teachings on enlightenment in the world's great spiritual and philosophical traditions. It is based on over 30 years of teaching and research experience on the part of the author, an expert in comparative global philosophy and peace research. It is intended to help lay the foundations for a global pluralistic civilisation at peace with itself in which each person alive can develop their own spiritual awareness in a world free from dogmatic imposition. Print: £15.97

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THE PHILOSOPHICAL INTERPRETATION OF HISTORY In this work the author examines each of the major philosophical schools East and West and compares and contrasts their views of ultimate historical reality. He searches for the notion of an Underlying Common Wisdom (UCW) and finds this in the idea of a transpersonal historiography, which he proposes as a methodology of historical work which can reconcile and harmonise the best of Eastern and Western philosophies of history. Print: £18.54

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WISDOM AFFAIRS: TOWARDS A CARTOGRAPHY OF ENLIGHTENMENT, ENLOVEMENT AND JOYISM FOR WISDOM LOVERS WISDOM AFFAIRS: TOWARDS A CARTOGRAPHY OF ENLIGHTENMENT, ENLOVEMENT

AND JOYISM FOR WISDOM LOVERS is an exploration of the powers and dynamics of human relationships, as a vehicle for the advancement of wisdom, learning and enlightenment on planet earth. It is a manifesto for the liberation of mankind from false desires and towards the realisation of authentic nirvana and enlightenment within the context of human relational existence. All serious spiritual seekers and those who are not wishing to leave behind the path of personal relationships and love are invited to study its arguments and philosophy in depth, and to apply its teachings. For further details see www.educationaid.net Print: £25.00

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THE MEMORY OF LIGHT The essential premise of the play, that Dionysus can save the world from actual destruction, through effecting a dramatic catharsis, is surely at least worth a try. Joyism as so conceived has a long intellectual heritage, going back into the mists of the ancient world. Certainly under Dionysus’ direction it emerged on the stage with the comic plays of antiquity, not least the work of Aristophanes, who in his Frogs has Dionysus journeying to the Underworld with Heracles in a classic supernatural comedy. The Memory of Light is neither comedy nor tragedy, but includes elements of both, as a classic tragic-comedy. It is also a deliberate homage to the Miracle plays of the Middle Ages, in which Creation, Redemption and the Last Judgement were performed in the cycles of York and Chester, and which saw the rebirth of theatre in Britain, after the long dark ages. Print: £17.20

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MUSINGS: VOLUME 1 AN AUTOBIOSOPHY OF HALF OF LIFE DEDICATED TO POETRY, PHILOSOPHY, EDUCATION, PEACE AND SPIRIT Print: £16.35

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A Shropshire Lass A Shropshire Lass is a sequence of poems written in Shropshire and the Welsh Marches, at the gateway of the 3rd millennium. They are an invocation to the beauty of the landscape, the wisdom of the eternal feminine, the mysteries of love, as well as a lament for the inescapable limitations and tragedies of temporality and human frailty. Print: £11.95

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA A – Z OF TRANSPERSONAL THEORISTS, HISTORIANS, PSYCHOLOGISTS AND PHILOSOPHERS 1945-2001 This epochal study is the first attempt to create a biographical dictionary of the lives and works of selected transpersonal thinkers in the 20th century. Ranging widely across disciplines, the work includes philosophers, historians, psychologists, educators, artists, psychohistorians, religious experts, theologians, Christians, Sufis, Kabbalists, Buddhists, Hindus, humanists, mystics all of whom have shown an interest in trying to understand the spiritual or transpersonal side of human nature. Many of the leading Jungian thinkers of modern times are listed here. The work

seeks to provide reference material for the development of a new sub-field of history, proposed by the author, namely "transpersonal history." Print: £33.29

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UNIVERSAL CALENDAR OF SAINTS AND SAGES This unique reference calendar includes saints and sages for every day of the calendar year. Unlike other such Calendars, it includes saints and sages from every religion and faith tradition, including the following: Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Paganism, Wicca, Druidry, Shamanism, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Secular Humanism, Marxism, Freudian thought, Bahaism, Shintoism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Kabbalah, Sufism etc. Print: £23.32

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SELECTED PHILOSOPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ESSAYS 1985-2005 This collection of essays comprises a survey of the author's academic and philosophical output over a period of 20 years. During the course of my intellectual adventures I have travelled to over 33 countries, and visited innumerable libraries, museums and cultural centres, in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Fez, Moscow, Bethlehem, Scandinavia, Russia, India, the Philippines, USA, Canada etc.. I remain optimistic as a philosopher because of our imaginative capacity, our spiritual and intellectual resources, which we can and hopefully will draw on individually and collectively to heal our current Download: £17.35

Hardcover Print: £43.53

SELECTED POEMS 1971 – 2005 VOLUME TWO This 2nd volume of poetry represents the author's poetic oeuvre covering a more recent time span, from the 1990's to 2005, and covers a wide ranging attempt to articulate the mysteries of existence. The poems are a testimony to the living power of the Muses as inspirers and guardians of insight and wisdom, to harness our ability of seership and higher knowing in the struggle for planetary peace and wisdom in a time of confusion and tragedy. The author believes that it is time for the poets of the world to stand together and raise their combined voices in inspired warning and guidance, to give hope and vision and courage to all those working for peace and social and civil justice, for an end to persecution, oppression, poverty and violence of every kind. It includes a sequence of poems entitled A Shropshire Lass, which are a conscious re-invocation of A.E. Houseman's A Shropshire Lad in a more contemporary key. Print: £22.93

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SELECTED POEMS 1971 – 2005 VOLUME ONE This volume of poetry represents the author's poetic oeuvre covering a long time span, from 1971 to about 1998, and covers a wide ranging attempt to articulate the unsayable. The poems comprise a testimony, from one individual, to the living power of the Muses as inspirers and guardians of insight and wisdom, to harness our ability of seership and higher knowing in the struggle for planetary peace and wisdom in a

time of confusion and tragedy. Print: £22.88

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MUSINGS VOLUME 3: 1991-1992 This volume documents a crucial period of the author’s life in London and the UK, working on a peace studies project at the University of London and its follow through phase, during the first Gulf War. Having been elected as coordinator of International Philosophers for Peace in Moscow in 1990, it was with a growing sense of unease and dismay that he witnessed the breakdown of international relations both in the Middle East and the Balkans region. The International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy was launched during this time to try to marshal the world's leading minds in the cause of conflict resolution and peace-making, and inter-philosophical dialogue, at a critical time in our planetary history. This work documents in full the story of these developments. Print: £15.40

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MUSINGS - VOLUME 2 1981-1990 The intellectual autobiography of half a life of study, writing, teaching & research, dedicated to the achievement of intercultural and inter-philosophical peace and spiritual understanding, this volume documents an important period of the author’s life in Canada and in London, working on a comprehensive study program in response to the threats to global peace and security occasioned by the cold war and ongoing international conflicts. Print: £15.37

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MULTILINGUAL DICTIONARY FOR MULTIFAITH AND MULTICULTURAL MEDIATION, PEACE AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY The MULTILINGUAL DICTIONARY FOR MULTIFAITH AND MULTICULTURAL MEDIATION, PEACE AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY is a research tool for all scholars and students and philosophers interested in languages and philology. It is the first ever published attempt to compile a comparative philosophical dictionary of terms for absolute concepts, which vary from culture to culture and religion to religion, of philosophically charged words such as God, Being, virtue, love, truth, beauty, power, existence, peace, knowledge, wisdom, mind, consciousness, magic, holy, spirit etc. It has a specific irenic purpose as a tool of inter-cultural understanding and reconciliation, on the proposition that through studying one another's words and concepts and ideas in their own vocabularies, rival spiritual and ideological systems might replace intellectual hostility and feuding with study, dialogue and mutual understanding. Print: £12.06 Download: £6.94

IIPSGP MEDIA DEPARTMENT NEWSSince moving up to Loch Goil in March 2011, I have been busy helping develop the online work of IIPSGP and also filmed numerous events and interviews with visitors to the Castle of the Muses. So far, I have filmed interviews with Dr. Gulab Kothari, an important newspaper editor and scholar

of the Vedas from Rajasthan, India who came to give a seminar; with Lilian Brzoska, a peace activist who gave testimony for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Britain and Ireland and spoke about Britain’s nuclear deterrent based 3 miles from IIPSGP base at Coulport; with Shapur Amini and his wife Assiya Amini from Afghanistan who both gave testimony for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East and spoke of their experiences living in the heart of the London riots this summer (available shortly); with Almira Rzehak, new IIPSGP Coordinator for the USA, about her views on the conflicts brewing over Kosovo and her psychohistorical reflections on the inner meaning between the Balkans conflicts of history; a performance of the Sacred Mysteries of Equinox (September 21st 2011) with Thomas Daffern and Sophia Craig-Daffern; the ‘Song of the Druid’, featuring prayers and chants with Thomas and Sophia by the beautiful loch at “Rest and Be Thankful”.

I have also set up a unique IIPSGP YouTube channel showing 28 videos and audio clips which means that anyone with internet access all over the world can watch events that are happening in and around the Castle for free, anytime of day or night. The work that is now available for viewing on this channel is as follows: a talk on Theosophical History and Transpersonal History at Edinburgh Theosophical Lodge; an interview with Gulab Kothari about journalism; a talk by Gulab Kothari about his understanding of the divine feminine based on the Vedic wisdom teachings;, the opening of the commentary by Thomas Daffern on the New Testament, the Quran and the Tanakh (Ketuvim), a birthday message recorded from the Castle on May 1 2011, a talk by Thomas Daffern about Education Aid, a three part interview about Thomas’s life story conducted and filmed by the late Brian VIsiondance, parts of the lecture series on Transpersonal History (lectures 1,5 and 6), a conversation between Thomas Daffern and Lynne Sedgmore OBE (who was invited to meet Queen Elisabeth and Pope Benedict 16th when they were in Scotland together in September 2010), 3 segments of the lecture series on Pathways of Spirit, covering Greek and Roman, Sumerian Philosophy and Judaism and the Kabbalah; an introduction by Thomas Daffern to the Periodic Table of the World’s Religious and Philosophical Traditions, a talk by Thomas Daffern in Suffolk at the Stars and Stones conference with Edmund Marriage and the late Sir John Agnew, on Druidry and Peace; a talk at the same venue by Thomas on the Council of Monarchs idea; a brief excerpt from the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East; another summary of the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Britain and Ireland; an interview with the late light worker and esotericist Menorah Charney of Israel. I have also uploaded several of Thomas’s poetry readings and we are hoping to record him reading his entire poetic oeuvre over the coming months and make these available – no easy task !

In addition to all these interviews and uploads which I have been mainly responsible for, I have also helped Thomas to create several new Facebook groups to help network different aspects of the overall work and vision for IIPSGP; these groups are open for access by anyone who is already on Facebook, and even if you aren’t you can still view everything that’s going on. The groups are as follows (to access which simply type in or copy and paste these titles exactly): International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy, Castle of the Muses, Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East; Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Britain and Ireland; Order of Peace Poets, Bards and Druids; Golden Gate Project; Stonehenge Spiritual Pilgrimage Centre; Centre for Peace Policy Research; Commonwealth Interfaith Network; Pagan Academic and Educational Network; The Global Green University. All of these different facebook pages have regular updates and you can join them and share your own news of relevance. Facebook is truly a phenomenon of our time and one whose overall ability to speed up networking and interaction is something that makes my work as Media Coordinator for IIPSGP much easier that it would have been in the days of postage stamps !

Of particular sorrow to me as Media Coordinator has been the death of Brian Visiondance this year from cancer, as I knew he had been a good friend and supporter of Thomas and the work of IIPSGP for many years; he came to the cottage in Trotton, West Sussex where IIPSGP was based from September 2009 to September 2010 and filmed a long three part interview with Thomas just before he got ill. I also know that Thomas placed a prayer into the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem for him when he visited in April, since for all his new age hippyness, Brian was also a practitioner of reformed liberal Judaism.

The other thing I have been doing is working hard on editing my documentary, ‘DRUID’, and filming one or two extra sections including Thomas, as Peace Druid of Britain, including a marvellous section which shows the magical Peace Sword of Albion that he is bearer to, and I am hoping to complete this documentary film in the next few months and make it commercially available soon thereafter.

I have also been working hard with my main TV broadcast and production channel, Holistic Channel and have remained in close contact over the day to day running of that channel, which is an online web tv company, and whose work can also be seen at: www.holisticchannel.org.uk We have just finished making a new documentary film about Tantra (much of which I filmed) and that is now available for sale through the Holistic Channel website or by emailing me.

I have also been busy as an independent media production specialist and have put together a short film for the local community council here in Loch Goil, promoting its newsletter The Wee Goil, which can be seen at: http://vimeo.com/28987772

All in all then it has been an extraordinary and busy year for the Media Department at IIPSGP, and it has been a pleasure and an honour to work up here in Scotland alongside Thomas and the rest of the crew. In April, when Thomas revisited Israel and Palestine, lack of funds meant I wasn’t able to accompany him this time, and hence he was only able to record the second series of interviews for the TRCME on audio equipment instead of on camera, but we would like to revisit the Middle East on another occasion, and film new interviews, for example in Iran, where IIPSGP has a new contact following her visit to the Castle this past summer. I would also like to catalogue and make available the entire back audio catalogue of interviews conducted by Thomas regarding peace and interfaith spirituality, which belong to the archives of the Institute here at the Castle of the Muses and which date back as far back as the foundation of IIPSGP, in 1991 during the run up to the first Gulf War. This archive is literally a unique and irreplaceable repository of high level thinking on peace, policy and ethics from some important figures, and includes recordings made at about 30 meetings in the House of Lords on peace and policy during the period from 1993-2005, as well as numerous other IIPSGP educational events, such as the seminar on Educational Responses to 9/11 recorded at St Deiniols Library, Hawarden, in December 2001. To secure the long term availability of all these archives, and to put them in a format whereby members of the public can access them on line, we are looking to secure some grant aid or financial support here in the Media Department to safeguard what is a permanent legacy for the planet as a whole, recording one small institution’s vision for forging a better and brighter future for mankind. So if anyone reading this has any suggestions on where we can go for donations or funding, as a small educational charity, please do get in contact with me. Another way you can help is to network and promote the existing audio and written resources that IIPSGP has produced, so please get your local libraries and film societies to order our books and film and audio products. Get the message out there ! Finally, I am also available for future film work in general, so if you want some kind of mini-publicity video put together, or some editing, then my rates are competitive and I would be happy to oblige.

One final thing: it is hard to convey the beauty of the location in which the Castle of the Muses finds itself. I strongly suggest you try and put us on your own destination list in the coming months (although if you are coming up in the Winter please bring some extra warm clothing). As the local history book describing Loch Goil put it, Loch Goil is truly a “slice out of Paradise” (se Loch Goil: A Slice out of Paradise, edited by the Lochgoil Community Council, 2001)

The Castle of the Muses itself has an extraordinary history. Built in about 1870, it was the place where the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise, and John Campbell, the son of the Duke of Argyll, did their courting. They went on to marry, and John become Governor General of Canada. Louise was a sculptress and artist, and lived the longest of all Victoria’s daughters. Perhaps the ghosts that guests repute to haunt the Castle are of this couple still partying and wondering where all the other guests have gone ?

Anyone with media skills and film making skills is likewise welcome to come and get involved, and to stay for a few days or a week or so helping out with the various media related jobs that need doing around the castle connected with the life and vision of IIPSGP. The recent riots in England

and the spontaneous people’s risings throughout the world show that the old order based on war, fear, militarism and greed is being challenged as no longer tenable. But what exactly can we the people put in its place ? Perhaps the positive vision of a global future based on creativity, wisdom and non-violence that IIPSGP stands for and seeks to share. Please join us ! As you can see from elsewhere in this newsletter, we have an exciting programme of events coming up this term, and I will hope to be filming the most important of them, so I hope to welcome you there ! To get in touch on any of the above matters, simply write or email me directly at: Nicola Hague, Media Department, IIPSGP, Castle of the Muses, Carrick Castle, Loch Goil, Argyll, PA24 8AG, nicola.iipsgp@gmail.com, telephone 01301 703149.

Nicola Hague

IIPSGP FUNDRAISING DEPARTMENTIt is IIPSGP’s long term dream to be able to buy the Castle from its current owner, and so we are launching a fundraising programme to enable this to happen, and have 4 years to raise 600,000 pounds. I sincerely hope you will be able to help us achieve this. £500 pounds secures life members of IIPGSP; a donation of £1000 pounds registers you as a Patron of IIPSGP. Both levels of donation entitle you to come and visit and stay here whenever you wish ! Regular IIPSGP research membership is available for £50 p.a. and this entitles you to receive a copy of our Muses Love Journal and likewise to visit and stay in the castle when space allows, for research and study purposes. Please spread the word – 4 years isn’t that long ! Our intention and hope is to get 600 worthy individuals to donate 1000 pounds each and become the collective body of Patrons of the Castle. Once having secured this base permanently it will enable IIPSGP to put down deep roots and to build a world class centre of scholarship, study, learning and research dedicated to peace, spirituality and science, that can become a permanent feature of the British intellectual landscape. This will also give a permanent home to the IIPSGP and all its numerous projects not only for this generation, but all future generations, and to found here a permanent British and Commonwealth Peace Museum which future generations of students and scholars can come and visit. I you or anyone you know might interested in becoming a Patron of the Castle and one of our Founding 600, please do get in touch, via the email: dg257111@gmail.com

Hannah Hawker and Dierk Grigoleit, Fundraising Co-Secretaries